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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

I've had a strange koala obsession for quite some time. Here I am in 2005 getting super excited to see the koalas at the Cleveland Zoo:

...and here I am a few minutes later, pretending to be a koala in front of the real koalas:

One day, I learned about the terrifying drop bear, the man-eating (mythical) larger cousin of the koala, and my obsession grew.

With a koala obsession comes an Australia obsession, naturally. It's been on my list of top dream travel destinations for awhile. But now that KO Catering and Pies exists, I can get a little taste of Australia right here in Boston!

KO Catering and Pies is located just minutes from the Broadway T-stop, an area that I don't visit often - or at all, really - so when I saw that the December Boston Brunchers event would be taking place there, I figured it'd be a great opportunity to check it out.

The shop is absolutely adorable, with much more class than most take-out joints. (There's a small communal table and counter area for eating in, if you can get a spot, but the focus is really on take-out.)

Australian goodies for sale

Lovely ceramic bird decoration

Pie Time is undoubtedly the best time zone in the world.

While KO is quickly building a reputation around their meat pies, there's much more to the menu. We were provided with a meal of our choice from the "brekky" menu.

First, we were given a delicious toast...topped with Vegemite.

Way back in my Girl Scout days - I was a star cookie seller, by the way! - we went on an overnight jamboree type of thing with other local troops, and there was an international theme, so we were all assigned a country and told to bring a snack representing that country. (I brought Nilla Wafers, but I don't remember what country that was supposed to represent.) My friend Nancy was assigned Australia, and she brought Vegemite. The troop leader forced us all to try it on crackers, and I'm pretty sure we all spit it out right away.

Fast forward to brunch at KO. Maybe my palate has matured, I thought, taking a big bite of toast. Nope...still not my thing. It's very, very salty...almost like a thick soy sauce...and it just doesn't do it for me. But the bread was delicious!

Anyway, onto the rest of the food! I got the herbed potato rosti (like a latke, but BETTER! Did you know that was possible? I didn't!) with slow roasted tomato, bacon, and fried egg. Delicious all around. Others tried the croque madame, croque monsieur, and sweet potato fritters.

Even better than a latke. Really.

croque madame

Then, just as we were all groaning in satisfaction and slipping into food comas, we were given sausage rolls. Indulgent and filling, these could probably be a meal on their own!

We were also left with some Aussie treats and instructions for the proper eating of a meat pie.

There was no way I could leave KO empty-handed; I needed a meat pie! I purchased a meat pie and sausage roll to bring home and share with Joel...or devour single-handedly.

Heaven?

As always, it was an absolute pleasure to see old blogger friends and meet new ones!

Although KO Catering and Pies is located in a neighborhood outside of my typical travels, it was actually easy to get to since it's just minutes from the T. I foresee many meat pies helping me through the winter!

Disclaimer: Boston Brunchers and KO Catering and Pies hosted a contest to gain admission to this brunch. The meal was provided free of charge, and I purchased additional items to take home. Regardless of cost or lack thereof, all opinions in this blog post and everywhere else on this blog are my full and honest opinion.